guns, guns and more guns

since i was a young soldier on the firing line at Ft Ord, California i have had contact with firearms. oh, i had some exposure while growing up, too.

I'm an army brat and grew up on the likes of Ft Sill Okla, Ft Riley ks, Kaiserslautern, Germany, Ft Jackson SC, Ft Hood, Texas (where i was stationed, as a soldier, with the 2d armored division after returning from SE Asia; also, we were there with dad right after WWII. so, i was there twice) and others that are long since dim memories. there were always armed soldiers around and i also got my first .22 rifle while at Ft Sill as a kid ( i still have it to this day, too. a sears roebuck, single shot, bolt action that has accounted for more rodents than i could possibly remember.)

i trained with the venerable M-1 Garand, M-1 Carbine and was issued an M-14 just before leaving the army; weapons we took into the fracas in Vietnam. i was, and still am, partial to them as being the best, all around combat weapons, ever.

yes, i know..."the m-16 is better"...not in my opinion. the M-16 is a great varmint rifle but too many fine soldiers have got into dire straights depending on them. actually i should clarify that the M-16 platform itself is refined enough now to be quite reliable but the 5.56 leaves much to be desired as a COMBAT cartridge as is being evidenced now by the military going to the 6.8/6.9 and back to the M-14/7.62x51/.308. the average "kill" in Vietnam by an infantryman was from forty yards at that range, even a .22 rimfire might have done as well. and one last point: general Petreaus himself, was shot, point blank, in the chest, in a training accident at Ft Bragg with a 5.56; obviously, it did not kill him. had that been the 7.62 it would be different outcome. luckily, most of our adversaries cannot afford the modern body armor we have and the 5.56 is still marginal at even modest ranges when used against unarmored personnel. I've read of many soldiers complaining about not being able to "knock down" an enemy and i read a report by a marine major on snipercountry.com witnessing the 5.56 bullets sticking IN the targets from 500 yds...NOT penetrating the target all the way. (but in all fairness that was penned during the very early days of Vietnam/M-16 and was on Okinawa at a training range.)

I've spoken to active duty marines who were not really that fond of the 5.56. especially if they've done a combat tour.

anyway, this is not a debate about "which is better?" and, it's up for replacement. i think there's enough to convince me, and many others, it's time the 5.56 is retired as a combat cartridge.

since then I've gone thru such an assortment of firearms it's almost staggering. one of my all time favorites happens to be related to the M-1 Carbine; the Ruger P9 9mm, semi-automatic, carbine. it's powerful (within limited parameters, of course...after all, it is ONLY a 9mm) accurate and like it's cousin, the M-1 carbine, unbelievably reliable. it's nearly as much fun to plink away with as the Ruger 10/22. the cost of the ammo is about the only down side when compared to the .22 rimfire but, never the less, the ammo is relatively inexpensive and available everywhere. to hand load it is no issue at all. if it weren't illegal here, I'd make a pistol grip stock for it. (here in California, that would make it an "assault" weapon.)

where the 9x19, may be, the most popular handgun round ever, it certainly is not the most powerful but from a 16" tube, it is capable of some respectable velocities. in the speer #11 loading manual, they list speeds for a 90 grain hollow point bullet at well over 1000 fps from a 3" tube...I'm certain it would probably approach the 1500 fps level from the 16" carbine tube. (I'm not certain of the numbers, but that's what i recall at the moment...I'll check them and post them later)

another reason I'm particularly fond of this carbine is the fact that i also have a "companion" P95DC auto-loader; they share magazines and ammo. they're my SHTF (Stuff Hitting The Fan) firearms.

and last but not least, we have a Rottweiler puppy that we're very fond of...his name? Von Ruger...